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It’s good to have you back! So much is happening all around us, it’s very hard to keep working on previous events, when we keep on going to the new ones! Oh well, you cannot have fun all the time, you have to do a bit of work as well! Have you missed two impervious parts of our review? Don’t worry, you don’t have to scroll through our blog to find them. We have the right links just here:

Let us start the last part of The Cat Shop guestbook review with a fantastic picture from Emma Brown. Emma, a very shy but talented artist, appeared completely out of nowhere (honestly!) at our stand on Sunday afternoon and started working on her masterpiece so quietly that it took us some time to notice her among the visitors. She worked in absolute silence, but the result is breath taking. Emma was very pleased with her cat and gave Rita and Mal a big handshake at the end. Gracias, Emma!

Page 43

We are not sure if the artist gracing page number 44 of our guestbook is a girl or a boy, sadly there were so many visitors leaving comments that we cannot remember all faces. The signature says Solard (if we got that right of course!). We absolutely adore this sketch and the cat has a very distinctive stare. Please notice, the cat’s eyes are golden-green.

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Emma is back! We encouraged her to pay us a visit if she feetl like drawing again and indeed she came back with her friends, about an hour later. The group arrived while a local musician was purchasing one of our artworks as a birthday present for his wife, that’s why Emma’s second kitten is holding a guitar!

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Just few minutes later after Emma and her friends left, we had another visitor, very eager to draw! Her name was Petra and she was very young (about 10-12 years old). We had a quick discussing with Petra about her very unusual name (derived from Greek word “petrus” meaning rock or a stone) and about the ancient city of Petra, a very important historical and archaeological site in Jordan. Surprisingly, Petra was very well aware of the meaning of her name and the stone temples at Petra. She proudly said that she was named after the one of the new New 7 Wonders of the World!

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Sim, our next artist decided to draw another picture of the Electric Cat! The E-Cat as seen below, is dressed in sports clothing and is in the middle of a training. You have to keep fit if you are saving Malta and the entire universe from the bad guys!

Page 47

Page 48 has been claimed by two separate artists. The first one drew us a very cute smiling cat-face but didn’t leave any signature preferring apparently to remain anonymous. The other cat (nicknamed “The up-side down kitten” is seen playing with a catnip ball. The second picture was made by an artist hidden behind a very delicious sounding nickname, Cake.

Page 48

Josefina arrived to The Cat Shop with a large entourage consisting of her friends, parents and various family members. Not being sure if she wanted to contribute anything, she took her time to make her mind. Luckily for us, she was in an excellent and artistic mood and she portrayed her own cat in a sleeping pose. The cat seems to be truly contented, probably had a big dinner and how is resting in the sunshine without a care in the world.

Page 49

Just like Emma before, it took Cake about an hour to return for a second go in the guestbook. Not satisfied with just a quick doodle, Cake spent at least 15 minutes coming up with another cat portrait! The second cat is much more detailed, it has long tail, pointy ears, big eyes and even a spotted bow in its fur. It looks like the cat is thinking about something, we may never know what’s on its mind!

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They say it takes a genius to understand another genius. Julia, our next abstract artist left us a bit puzzled with her symbolic artwork. However, other children had not troubles interpreting this picture – they all saw a sleeping cat! Children are geniuses, simple as that. We have so much to learn from them!

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Keira and her mom arrived at the same time when Julia was painting her picture. Keira, easily guessed what Julia drew and then decided to portray the same cat, just after waking up. She also gave Rita the biggest compliment by saying her cats were very nice. It’s good to be appreciated.

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Laurent, our next guest, was a very interesting boy. He was diagnosed with autism when he was very young, but was doing excellent at school and outside of academic life. He didn’t say much but drew us one of the biggest pictures and spent a while turning the cat completely black. We wish you all the best, Laurent!

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Sadly, we are not sure who left us this fantastic abstract artwork! Our memory fails us, but if you are the artist or remembers who made it, please contact us and we will give the full copyrights. Thank you!

Page 54

The next two pictures were created by the same artist. Since we have no signature, the artist will have to remain anonymous, unless he or she decides to write to us to reveal his/her identity. What we find truly unique about them is that both pictures are made using so called “mirror technique”. The artist draws the primary image on the first page, then turns it around and creates another one tracing the outlines of the first picture. This technique is widely used to create “twin” artwork – very similar works but different at the same time.

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Page 56

This cute-as-a-button-red kitten with a spring-like tail belongs to a 5 year old Naeema. According to her mom, red colour is her favourite (at least for now) and she loves drawing and all animals. Keep up the good work Naeema!

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Page 58 is a flattery in its purest form. You have to know that we set up our stand next to a bar. It was closed till about 2 pm on Saturday when the delivery guys arrived with drinks loaded onto a small forklift. They had troubles taking their eyes off us (we don’t blame them, they thought they were seeing double!). We are sure they have never seen identical twins before, dressed exactly the same and wearing the cat-ears. One of the delivery people left us this comment below. He was cute, but at least 15 years younger then us. We feel terribly old now!

Page 58

Our Gallery of Smiling Cats gets a new member! This simple but great looking sketch was contributed by Val nearly at the end of our stay at Earth Garden. Is it worth staying a bit late? Of course it is 🙂

Page 59

If you believe Aerosmith, pink is the colour of fashion. Gabyloo, our next artist, decided to create something unusual and went for an entirely pink cat. We have to say it worked wonders. Many visitors commented that this is probably one of their favourites. Pink cats definitely stand out from the crowd.

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Lucy travelled to Malta from Toronto, Canada and we had a long discussion with her about everything Canadian: from old TV series (“Due South”), adventure books (James Oliver Curwood), music (Moist and Alanis Morissette) to Hudson Bay and Athabasca River. Lucy was delighted to learn that our white exotic shorthair cat is named after the famous Canadian river!

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Ivy, one of our youngest artists, was so small, that she needed help from her mom to hold the markers! It didn’t stop her from contributing and she giggled loudly with delight while drawing. Her cat is named Tina – it is obvious that every cat (even those drawn ones) are in need of a good name.

Page 62

Madoka arrived with her parents and large group of friends quite late in the evening. It must have been nearly 9 o’clock but she was not sleepy at all! It is only rarely when you can stay up so late so she enjoyed each second of her stay at the festival. After she was done drawing, she handed the guest book to us and took a very deep bow. That was very unusual and Mal went to speak to her parents to learn where the girl was from. It turned out that the family was from Japan and Madoka was visiting Malta for the first time. We bowed back. Her dad was very proud to find some decently educated gaijins in Europe 😀

Page 63

Josephina (page 49) could not leave Earth Garden without saying good bye to her favourite Cat lLdies and without painting another picture. She chose to portray the all-famous E-Cat, giving us a very electrifying stare. We also learned that his whiskers are magical – they start to glow blue when the cat is in danger and crackle with electricity when the cat is angry! Do not, we repeat, do not make the E-Cat angry, you might get electrocuted!

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And here we are, on the last page of the guestbook. The last picture is again of the Electric Cat drawn by Dom Storace. Thank you Dom, as they say, you saved the best for the last! Much appreciated 🙂

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Ladies and gentleman, cats, kittens and all respectable felines. We are sad to announce That the Cat Shop guest book report is done. 66 drawings, 10 sold artworks, hundreds of visitors, old friends and new faces. All we can say is THANK YOU for your support and for excellent time. We might be coming back next year, after all we already miss the Earth Garden!

No worries, we are not done yet with our coverage from the festival. Very soon, we will have some fantastic pictures to show you! Be on a standby and visit us soon.

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Ahoy, ahoy dear readers! The guest book extravaganza continues! As we have mentioned before, we have received so many drawings this year, we have to divide the report into three, massive and separate reviews! If you have missed the first part of our review please click on the link below:

Let’s not waste anymore time, shall we? We know why you are here, after all! You want to see more cat artworks and we shall give them to you. Off we go! Red is always in fashion. The first picture for today and we have two lovely red cats drawn by two different artists. The top cat wearing a dress and a bow is signed but we are unable to decipher the signature. Could it be Pearl? The bottom cat looks very wild, probably spent a whole night serenading the ladies!

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We turn the page and what greets us is a family collaboration! For the first time ever, we had an entire family leaving an entry in our guestbook. Emilie, the youngest member of the collective was the first to draw the top cat, then she was followed by her dad Ivan and mom Annabelle and even her teenage brother Korben joined in (bottom picture). What a fantastic group effort. Did we mention that Korben came up with a lot of the back – story for our famous Electric Cat? He said that the Persian cat should have two owners (older brother and a younger sister) and they should join the cat on his adventures.

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Our next visitors, Amélie and Scarlett arrived at the same time as Korben and his family but had to wait in line to leave a comment. Since they listened to the entire conversation, they thought that Electric Cat should be published in a form of a graphic novel and the siblings and their cat, should be solving complex detective cases and of course, saving the world. Scarlett would like to see a feline femme fatale (named after herself of course) and her friend wished that the story took place on Malta but also in New York and London. They have left us two cat drawings that could become main characters in the developing storyline!

Page 25

Page 26 belongs to a lady named Katerina who decided to created a sweet and smiling cat. She even left us a smiling emoticon in her signature. Thank you Katerina, you made our day!

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Inspired by Katerina’s drawing, our next guest Nicole Pace, drew another smiling feline with beautiful long lashes. No doubt, this lady cat is a well known beauty and broke many-a-feline hearts around the neighborhood!

Page 27

They say that smile is contagious just like sneezing. It must be true as another lady, Ella L. created yet another smiling cat! Third in a row!

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The last feline in our “Smiling cats” series has been contributed by Berak. This gently smiling kitten is named Momo and there is a cute pink heart next to her. Thank you!

Page 29

Page 30 belongs to two girls – Martina and Tamara. Martina is responsible for drawing the top cat (with Earth Garden 2015xx in her signature) and Tamara drew a big, fluffy cat resting at the bottom of the page. What we like about the cat is his very unusual stripy tail and an elaborate necklace with a star. Good work girls!

Page 30

The Electric Cat claws again! Kaya, a young artist, stopped at our stand and carefully studied the guestbook in search of inspiration for her drawing. Previous Electric Cats portraits have caught her eye and she decided to have a go as well. And here you have it, the fluffy half Persian E-Cat in his entire electrifying glory! Kaya – you are a fantastic artist!

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Amos may be a very young artist (about 4 or 5 years old) but he already has a professional alias and great skills to match. Amos is creating under the pseudonym of SOMA (Amos spelled backwards) and his mom is his greatest fan and a manager! This masterpiece shows our Electric Cat before he received his super powers.

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Have you ever seen a butterfly cat? We neither but our next guest named Christina must have as she even painted a portrait of it. Apparently, butterfly cats have wings, long tails, no paws and wear a bow behind their left ear. Seems legit to us.

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Page number 34 has been claimed by two lovely kids – Jaiden (age 5) and Kairon (age 4). They drew two lovely cat portraits (both own real cats at home) and two big hearts. That’s what we need – more cats and more love!

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Page numero 35 is probably our favourite in the entire guestbook! Fantastic job by two artists – Max and Moni! Moni created an amazing sweet looking lady-cat and Max kicked ass with his true comic version of the E-Cat surrounded by lighting bolts.

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And we are back to the Smiling Cats portraits! Another one has been contributed by Charlot. Her kitten looks a bit shy but we love it anyway!

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Jandica arrived at our stand with a large group of friends but only she was brave enough to draw a cat. We absolutely adore her kitten – it has a very funny expression, luxurious long whiskers and a twisted tail. Jandica left us a big x in her signature as well. Thanks a lot!

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7 1/2 years old artist, Bertie B came to The Cat Shop with assistance of his parents and extended family members. No encouragement was needed – five minutes and we were given this beautiful portrait!

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Do you remember a boy named Amos from the first part of our review? He used the pseudonym of SOMA and nominated his mom as his personal manager. Amos returned to Earth Garden on Sunday and he left us another painting – this time it is a lion. Still a cat, just slightly bigger than the house pets we love so much!

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This is probably the cutest picture we have received so far. A big thank you to Jess (“the cat-lady”as she called herself ), who provided us with this simple yet adorable picture. Meow indeed!

Page 40

Once you visit The Cat Shop, you keep coming back! After drawing us a picture on Saturday (page 35), Max returned to our stand to give the only Maltese super cat another portrait. This time E-Cat proudly presents itself wearing the superhero costume with a red flowing cape. Max also designed the super cat logo (SC)! Jess also paid us another visit on Sunday morning and ended up sketching this cool cat wearing a pair of sunglasses. Maybe this is E-Cat on a secret mission? Nobody will recognize you when you are wearing shades (unless you starred in The Matrix trilogy!)

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We will close the second part of our review with a very cool looking portrait of her cat that XahXah drew for us. She said that her kitten is a bit high maintenance and a bit of a fussy eater too. You can see his very disappointed grin saying: “Not tuna again, I want some chicken today” 😀

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Welcome back dear readers! This is probably the most rewarding part of post Earth Garden report writing – the guest book review! It is now a tradition that we have a guest book on The Cat Shop and everybody can draw whatever they like, mostly cats of course.

The title page this year has been drawn by Rita Dabrowicz. It says: “The Cat Shop – Leave the comments”. A blue arrow asks to open the guestbook. We had a record year when it comes to the public drawings and comments, we will have to divide our report into three parts!

Front page of The Cat Shop guest book 2015, drawn by Rita

Page two belongs to belongs to George and Daniela. George’s cat is called Miao and appears to sit on a cloud surrounded by a bird and a flying fish. He also has a halo above his head. The bottom cat is named Chucky and looks like an old raggedy cat-fighter. Thanks guys!

Page 2

Four next pages (3,4, 5 and 6) have been decorated by three year old Diego from the Republic of Gozo 🙂 Diego is probably one of the youngest artists leaving us their work but you have to admit, that this boy has a talent! Most of kids his age would simply doodle without any plan or construction but Diego was different. He carefully planned each artwork and then executed, picking the right colours and even described what he wanted to show his audience. Next Jackson Pollocks? You bet! When Diego is all rich and famous, remember we wrote about him first!

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page Six entitled “The sleeping cat”

Page 7 contains 7 cats by 7 different artists! We are not sure who drawn the three top cats, we have troubles with reading the signature (starts with J and finishes with H, could be Jeremiah, Jemiah or something completely different!) The black cat just underneath is a collaboration between Rasha, Belle and ZC, the blue cat next to it has been drawn anonymously, at the left bottom cat, but the biggest feline is signed by a boy named Benji. Benji arrived with Rasha and few other kids and they had fun drawing for at least half an hour! The group have also left a lot of drawings on page 8, including the most famous kitten nicknamed “The Electric Cat”

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The Electric Cat is apparently a half Persian cat that chewed on the electric cords and received an impressive array of super powers when Marsa Power Station overloaded and was switched off causing a nation wide power cut. Marsa Power station is the biggest power station on Malta delivering electricity of nearly an entire island. Step aside Catwoman, there is a new feline superhero in town!

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Page 9 and we have our biggest kitten yet. Rainer from Malta came up with this mischievous cat sticking out its tongue.

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A splash of colours! Dominique stopped at our stand with her mom and they drew this beautiful artwork with all the colours of the rainbow. Thank you ladies, and hopefully we will see you again!

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In previous years the drawings in our guestbook were predominately blue and black. This year, our visitors preferred to use very colour marker that we had. The results are splendid! Just look at the two next artworks left by Benji, Stella and Rasha! They are fantastic – thank you!

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Page 12

Traditionally considered to be an unlucky number, page 13 has been beautifully decorated by a very young anonymous artist. Minimalistic and abstract approach is very popular in art circles these days. In few years’ time could fetch millions at Christie’s Auctions in London!

Page 13

This page is very special to us as it shows that anybody, young or old can enjoy drawing cats! We have been telling our visitors for years that everybody can be an artist, but only few really believe us. The first cat has been created by N. Vassallo from Malta, a very distinguished lady that had a lot of fun creating her first artwork after many years away from the drawing board. She is sharing the page with four year old Nina backed up by her parents, who enjoyed the pink colour very much! We need more pink cats in real life as well!

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We are very grateful for every picture left in our guestbook. This lovely cat and bird artwork comes from a professional artist, Berivan Serin, owner of the famous Berivan Stone Painting art shop! Beri (as she is widely known) creates magical pictures on stones and her skills are simply astonishing. You can join a group dedicated to her art on Facebook to learn more or visit Bohemia store to purchase some of her creations. We own a couple of them, you know you have to invest in properties and art to secure yourself a rich and happy retirement!

Attention please! Something quite serious happened on Earth Garden and we need to highlight the issue. A group of young animal activists came to us to look for help. They live on Gozo and they witnessed several incidents of cruelty against animals. Please read what they have written below – it will be investigated. If any of our readers know anything about it, please contact us urgently! We will try to find out more and notify the authorities. Thank you.

Page 18 is a true masterpiece! We are unable to decipher the signature but the Shaylah Cat should be printed on t-shirt! Maybe we can do it? Who knows! Great thanks to the artist!

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We remember that those two artworks have been created by a couple of friends (or were they sisters?) who wanted to create something different than everybody else. Page number 19 is decorated with an artwork named “Death Cat”. Fantastic work and amazing skills guys – keep it up!

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Felicity, a young cat lover was very excited when we asked her to draw for us. Just look at this fantastic kitten waving its front paw at us. Felicity, you are a great artist, please don’t stop drawing!

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Two friends, Edel and Mia, had a very unusual contract – who will draw the coolest cat. We cannot decide who won – Malicia voted for Edel (Cool cat) and Rita likes Mia’s Cooler cat. What do you think? Both girls are winners anyway, they won in being a truly great artists!

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The last picture for today belongs to three separate artists: Sofia (the top artwork named “The questioning cat?”), and two anonymous (on the left “The smiling cat” as we called it) and a cat with spikey ears on the right. We wish all artwork were signed as we would love to congratulate each artists, but we understand some artists are very humble and prefer to remain incognito.

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All rights kittens, that’s all for today! Please come back tomorrow, more cats are waiting to be seen!

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Can you believe, it’s been a whole week since the festival? It seems a bit surreal but a lot of things have happened since then! Rita returned to the rainy and miserable UK, Mal has been editing a lots of pictures for future reports and our old cat Athabasca has been eating and sleeping. Everything’s back to normal and we have so many cool pictures to show you.

First of all, thank you kindly for the most amazing time we have had! We have seen familiar faces, met new friends, listened to some coolest tunes on the island and we are already planning to come back. It is too early to say if The Cat Shop will be 100% back next year, but we are ecstatic and we ‘d love to participate again.

One of the mottoes of Earth Garden 2015

The right bin for everything, all recyclable materials were carefully selected

We will start our annual reports with a something truly wonderful – Going Green Project. As you know Earth Garden has always put the biggest emphasis on ecology, recycling and saving energy and water. The artists on Ethnic Market are encouraged to create their artworks from materials and fabrics that normally end up in a garbage bin. Out cats are no exceptions. This year however, the organizers went even further. Teaming up with Gayle Murphy of Global Green Events, Earth Garden became truly the greenest and most ecological friendly event in the Mediterranean.

As usual we have been right at the heart of the action. We have followed Gayle (who served as the Director of Sustainability for the festival) and a professional photographer Mike Caffrey in their quest to capture the green side of Earth Garden. You have no idea how many people jumped on the green wagon showing their enthusiasm and love for our dear Mother Earth. Everybody wanted to photograph themselves with “We are in” or “I’m in” signs that Gayle has given away. Mike had to even climb the stage to photograph a large crowd of festival goers. It was a fantastic experience.

We have to say it was a pure poetry watching Gayle turning all the ecological ideas into reality. Large containers were delivered to each site of the festival, the labels were in the right places and if any bin started overflowing, the assigned eco-team quickly emptied it. After the festival, the entire National Park was spotless. If you remember the previous editions you will know that there was a bit of rubbish left. This year, even the dust from the roads was gone – this is how you do it. Few governments could learn from this girl. She is amazing!

Now let the pictures do the talking, they are worth more then an essay or even an entire book about ecology! All pictures have been taken by Mike Caffrey and are copyrighted. Please do not re-post them without asking for a permission first. Contact Mike if you’d like to hire him for your event, thank you!

Gayle talking the the crowd

And more talking, she had some great things to say – the public was enthralled

A huge applause for Gayle!

Crowd control, they listened and obeyed!

Crowd control part 2

We are in campaign was very successful. We havd Valetta 2018 crew joining us, as well as Earth Garden Sponsors and the security guards!

Who says large groups don’t fit the frame? We have some great shots of them too:

Group#1 – lounging under the tree

Group shoot #2

Group shot #3

Group shot #4

Group shot #5

Group shot #6

Group shot #7 – even the dog agreed!

Group shot #8

And the best for the last – some great shots we absolutely love!

Party hard and work hard – sustainability team in action

Literally….cheeky but fun!

And Gayle again in 3rd strategy tent (say no to food waste)

Vanadian Avenue team would like to thank Mike Caffrey (for allowing us to carry your Canons for you!), Earth Garden team (for everything) and to Gayle for taking us on this crazy yet very educational trip.

Please come back soon and tag yourself if you recognize yourselves on the pictures.

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We are incredibly excited! The Earth Garden festival is always putting us in an excellent mood, but we have other reasons to celebrate as well. The last few months have been very busy but we have been working hard to completely change our store and fit the new, greener concept of the festival. Our artworks have incorporated recyclable materials in the past, but not to this extend! This year, we have moved to a whole new level – all pictures have been created using entirely recycled bits, odds and ends that usually end up in the bin first. We have been given them completely new life, shape and form. Be careful, the cats are so cute, you might overdose on cuteness! We are sorry, there is no cure for cuteness overload, you will be Googeling for cats images and videos on the Internet for the rest of your life.

Earth Garden is taking place on June 5-7th 2015 in Ta’ Qali National Park on Malta

If Earth Garden 2015 is going to be your first festival of this kind, please visit their official website to learn more. You will find everything you need to know: information about food stands, performances and concerts schedule, art market info and list of invited guests. You can also download the official program here: Egprog2015 or use this link directly from Earth Garden website: http://earthgarden.com.mt/Egprog2015.pdf

Our stand will be located in the Open Village on Ethnic Market. As advertised: “Ethnic Market visitors can walk through the stands filled with handmade creations amidst a colourful array of unique and attractive designs within a free-spirited atmosphere.” Do you need more encouragement? We don’t think so, but hey, here’s a map – maps are cool, you might be needing one not to get lost!

Where do you want to go?

The time has come now to introduce you all to some of the newest members of our furry family. Please say hi to several new kitten artworks you will have a chance to adopt. And remember that we are supporting SPCA Malta – your purchases are going to help kittens and dogs in need. We cannot recommend highly the people behind The Society for the Protection & Care of Animals. They are our heroes but even a hero needs help sometimes. Be a superhero, come to The Cat Shop, buy the artworks and help your local animals in need!

1. Up and down – two cats made from bits of fabrics, decorative cord and old buttons. You can easily find these materials in any art store or from your local tailoring shop. We purchased about 2 meters of the decorative mesh for a few pennies from a local tailor, who has a lot of various fabric bits left after the dresses are made. Normally, those bits are being thrown away as the tailors have little use for them, but they can be easily re-used. You have no idea how many interesting things can be found in a tailor’s bin!

Up and Down

2. Twins – old piece of cardboard, a bit of black paint, some glue and a damaged sheet of decorative paper found in Hobby Craft’s reduced price section. Rita has used nail decorating supplies from Poundland to make the eyes – the packaging was damaged and the store was about to throw the box away. Never throw away the gems – we now have supply of cat eyes for 10 years at least!

Twins

3. Too many cats – Hobby Craft reduced price section is a true heaven for artists that are environmentally aware. Hole puncher in shape of a cat normally costs 4 pounds (about 6 euros). When it is cracked (but working fine), nobody wants to buy it. Well, we did and look at the results. We have used old Easter cards to make the silhouettes of dancing cats and styled them as we pleased. Framed, it looks fantastic! You can do it at home as well!

Too many cats

4. Three elegant cats – bits of fabrics again. You can style them as you wish, all you need is scissors, glue and old jeans buttons. Voila!

Three elegant cats

5. The Question – to make this picture, we used exactly the same materials as for the artwork number 1. Golden mesh was glued first, then we placed three cat silhouettes (cut from an old cardboard sheet) and the red mesh was placed on top. Three golden bows were made from a decorative rope used in beauty products packaging. If you see something pretty, save it for later!

The question

6. The Gathering – do you have old newspapers lying around the house? You don’t have to throw them away, you can use them to make a cat artwork! A bit of fancy cover on top (like this sparkly mesh from tailor’s shop again, 50p for a meter) and you are a master cat artist. Do not worry about glue smudges, the mesh will hide any imperfections!

The Gathering

7. Muna – Muna’s body has been cut from the same piece of fabric used to make the artwork number 4. We have added old sequins from a recycled dress and the anchor was a part of an old cosmetic bag that was given away to us for free. Whiskers are made from Christmas tinsels (bits are always falling off when you take the decorations down in January so save them!).

Muna

8. Meow me? – Meow me took about 6 hours to be made. We have used sequins from an old t-shirt and his eyes were made from plastic stones that have been coloured with acrylics to fit the rest. The background is done with a washing technique that removes the upper layers of paint before it dries up completely. We have used an old picture frame back to paint the cat on it. Looks good to us!

Meow me?

9. Love is in the air – do you have an old gift bag that somebody gave you lying about the house? It is too battered to be used for present again and you feel it would be a waste to simply throw it away? Cut the patters, make an artwork out of it and frame it. Your friends will be jealous!

Love is in the air

10. Love cats – this artwork was made with the same materials as artwork number 6. Never be ashamed to use the same materials to create several artworks. First, we need to combat the waste production, second, you will start a series of pictures and they look fantastic framed and displayed close to each other. An artist may lack the skills, but never the imagination. Bows, flower and heart have been recycled from different sources, but you can purchase them in art stores as well.

Love cats

11. Jim Wright’s ShopCat – ShopCat is a real cat that belongs to a publicist and political commentator Jim Wright. She is an Internet feline celebrity and there’s nothing wrong with painting a fanart. You can follow Mr Wright on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stonekettle

12. High fashion – this artwork has been made from the same materials as pictures number 5 and 1. A piece of cardboard painted black was placed among several layers of decorative mesh. Plus the bow is made from a red cord that was a part of beauty products packaging.

High fashion

13. Flower power #1 – Wall stickers are very popular these days. Majority of them end up on our walls, but some pieces may not glue well or may have been damaged and are no longer fitting to be used. Do not throw them away – instead turn them into an artwork! Simply, glue the pattern in the middle of an A4 sheet (over 100 grams is preferable) and paint some cats around it. Then frame and display it next to the rest of the stickers decorating the walls. You will be applauded for creativity!

Flower power

14. Flower power #2 – we had two spare stickers and now we have two cat artworks. They are our favourites!

Flower power 2

15. Cheesecake – again the same materials used to make artwork number 9. Big heart patters, cat made from old cardboard sheet painted black and long tail. Say hello to Cheesecake!

Cheesecake

16. Butterfly – the last of wall stickers that were used in artworks number 13 and 14. This time it is not a flower but a butterfly. Rita is very proud of this one, the cat looks really surprised. Painted with ancient acrylic inks she found at her parent’s flat (they are over decade old).

Butterfly

17. Blue – Blue was painted as a sketch for an artwork that was never finished. We decided to make an experiment – to frame an unfinished piece and only add a writing (created with rub on letters that can be found in art stores or purchased on Amazon). The final effect – brilliant. Lesson learned – do not throw your sketches and flawed drawings away. Put them in a safe place, even for a year and re-discover them to realize that they are purrfect.

Blue

18. 7 cat army – the same technique used to make the artwork number 3. We have punched a lot of cats from different bits of materials we had (old newspapers, gossip magazines, clothing logos etc) and then styled them as we wanted. We named it 7 cats army, after the song that played on the radio when we were making it (Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes). We like it a lot!

7 cat army

Please excuse the poor quality of the images, but they are actually pictures. It is hard to scan the artworks as they have many sticking elements that scanners generally do not like. Each artwork has been professionally framed and they will be available for sale. We also want to mention that all artworks have been designed by our mom, Olimpia Dabrowicz, the biggest cat lover in Poland and the owner of Cat-a-log collection.

We hope to see you in the Art Market! We are a small family business, and we love cats (as you probably have guessed!)

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Yes, it is THAT time of year again! The famous Earth Garden Festival is approaching and there are only 6 days left until we will meet you all in the lovely Ta’ Qali National Park!

Earth Garden logo

As usual, the preparations are underway. Mal and Rita have been working really hard to bring you the fifth edition of the ever popular The Cat Shop – and this year we can honestly promise you, it is very, very much different! We have completely and utterly rebooted the idea behind the store and we have some seriously cute cat-friendly artwork to prove it! You can expect a lot of great, innovative ideas from the organizers of the festival as well. One of the new things implemented this year are the small interviews with all stand owners from the Ethnic Market, which will help you to learn more about the artists and their works. We have been interviewed as well and we are proudly presenting you with the Introduction to The Cat Shop!

Ethnic Market ad featuring kittenlicious The Cat Shop

Earth Garden: What’s your name/ the name of your team, Business or Brand?

Vanadian Avenue: We are twin sisters: Malicia and Rita Dabrowicz. The name of the stand is The Cat Shop – because all our items have a cat pattern. Beside the stand, we also run a blog, organize events and promote independent artists on social media, all under the name “Vanadian Avenue”.

Earth Garden: Tell us about your business. What is it? What inspired or motivated you to start this venture? How long have you been doing it?

Vanadian Avenue: We started The Cat Shop about five years ago, just to see if any of the painting would sell. We got a very positive reaction (and quite a few sales!) and even have people coming back each year to say hi.This will be our fifth Earth Garden edition. We can’t wait!

We are also featured on Earth Garden website!

Earth Garden: Did you have any green initiatives in place before Earth Garden? (For example is sustainability part of your business model? What about the packaging you use, the source of your products, OR any energy or water saving efforts, waste management – recycling, composting etc., do you tell people about it? Do you include customers in these initiatives? – Feel free to answer what applies to you as these are just ideas to guide you)

Vanadian Avenue: Think globally, do locally – this is what we believe in. We try to reuse items when creating new cats (check out the lovely clay sculptures – the eyes are made of old bulbs and they fit perfectly!) or use organic materials in our paintings. We also have the policy of cleaning the site before we leave so no garbage is left behind. You don’t have to have a big ecological procedure to be effective. Not leaving a mess is good enough. Remember that Ta`Qali is a national monument and is to be enjoyed by everybody all year round!

And on the program as well! We are extremely proud!

Earth Garden: Do you have any hidden talents most people don’t know about?

Vanadian Avenue: We have been in a church choir. Rita is a mezzo soprano, while Malicia is an alto.

Earth Garden: What are you selling at Earth Garden?

Vanadian Avenue: We will be selling paintings, posters, fridge magnets and a variety of fantastical cats. You have to come and see them before they are all adopted!

Earth Garden: Are you In: What are you doing to make your part of Earth Garden Greener? Tell us about your product, your brand and/or your stall (for example the materials for your stall, your packaging).

Vanadian Avenue: We try to keep things simple: one table (aluminium – lasts for years), two old rattan boxes (perfect for storage and moving things, also add character to the stall), some decorations: balloons, some string, paper bags for packaging. Green and ecological also means that you don’t show up with an entire caravan and take too much space!

Our stand last year – we have some new cats that needs the good fur-ever homes!

Seeing blue? Blue is our favourite colour and it looks very well framed in black!

Earth Garden: Why does going greener matter to you?

Vanadian Avenue: Going greener means being responsible: about your actions, about your surroundings, leaving things as they were after you leave. There is nothing uglier than leaving mess in a beautiful garden!

Earth Garden: What would you tell other people who want to start similar projects – any words of encouragement or advice on how they can do things more sustainably?

Vanadian Avenue: We would like to tell people to start making art, no matter if they think of themselves to be artists, craftsmen or just mere amateurs. Do it, train, practice, create. Don’t listen to what others say. On our stand we keep a guest book and we encourage people to draw in it. People leave fantastic artworks and ideas and do not even realize how talented they really are! We need more art in our lives. Otherwise, life will be boring!

Earth Garden 5th-7th June 2015 Ta’ Qali National Park, Malta

We are getting greener, are you? This year we will show you what to do with old, unwanted newspapers and a bit of glue!

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Welcome back again! Another day, another blog and we are still showing off our collection of super cute cat portraits! Yes, the ever popular part two of Earth Garden 2014 guestbook review is right here. Be prepared to discover amazingly talented kids, great artworks and a lot of imagination in its purrrest form. Vanadian Avenue has always been a cat-crazed team and we are very proud of that! Looking through the colorful pages of our guest book, we have to admit, we are not the only ones. Malta seems to be an animal loving nation. Keep it up folks. The more, the merrier as we say!

And now ladies and gentleman, we will show you a collection of works that should be exhibited in MOMA or TATE art galleries. Let’s hope that one day it will be!

Everybody say hi to Nacho, the smiling cat! Johan and Grainne found our stall at the Earth Garden by complete accident and they wouldn’t go without leaving a mark. The mark has a long flowing tail, pointy ears, long whiskers and a big smile. This is a sign of a spoiled kitten and that’s how we like our pets to be. A big thank you for your kinds words about our works and it was great to meet you both. And pet Nacho from us, will ya? Nacho is a real kitten and deserves a lot of love and attention.

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Our next visitor, a young lady named Sasha decided to use a palette of colors to bring her talking cat to life on page 21. This fantastic beast has a yellow head, purple tail and orange-blue body. Don’t be afraid, this particular creature is very friendly and likes to talk to humans quite a lot. Sasha is an expert on talking cats and has studied them carefully. She was convinced that we can learn their language pretty quickly as each meow has a clear meaning. Some wise words from a little girl. We should always listen to our pets and kids. Listen, not just hear them – there is a big difference there!

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It’s a family affair! Four girls (two sisters and two cousins) named Bibi, Amelia, Dora and Amaryllis overtook our stand for nearly half an hour but the merry bunch had the time of their lives. The girls ranged from age 4 to 12 and they all share love for arts and cats. The extended familia owns a cat called Olli that has been portrayed several times on the picture below as sleeping, playing with a ball of yarn, hunting for a goldfish and just looking straight at the visitors. The youngest girl was unable to draw cats yet but she bravely participated by doodling several bugs that Olli likes to chase around their house. As professional artists, the girls signed their artworks using pseudonyms: Am, Mia B, Do and TD. Look out art world, the super talented family is going to be very influential very shortly!

Anybody who has ever been involved in an organization of a street event will admit that guys are not easily convinced to participate. It takes a lot of encouragement and sometimes even pleading to make them change their minds. We don’t really know where it starts as children of both sexes love to draw, play and they do not need any extra initiative to just have a good fun. The older the kids get, the harder it comes to convince them to show their skills or try something new. It is especially hard with boys as ever 10 or 11 year old will find a myriad of excuses not to do anything. We treasure every picture we receive but those made by boys are especially cherished. Gilbert, one of the boys who approached our stand, left us a brilliant artwork. His cat is comfortably sitting on a meadow next to flowering plants. Gilbert also added a short message that reads “Thanks for the cat love”. You have some serious skills Gilbert! All the best!

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Another contributor named Matt reigns on page number 24. His extraordinary talents put even the experienced artists like Rita to shame (she isn’t afraid to say so). Matt’s drawing of a crazy kitten on a midnight walk shows great sense of humor and breath-taking dedication to the smallest of details. It didn’t took him more than 10 minutes to come up with this beautiful artwork and as we watched him work, we were grinning with delight. We are sure that Matt has been drawing for a while now and we would love to see more of his works. If you are reading these words Matt, please get in touch with us!

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Kyle Cassar is one of the youngest contributors to our guest book. Kyle is a Maltese boy and he is 8 years old. He likes to draw, play and loves animals. He created a very unusual cat, a cross between a feline and some unknown species that looks to us a bit like a dinosaur! And the dino-cat is being followed by another very curious creature that can be described as a slime-fish 😀 Good work Kyle. Not many artists could come up with two new races on a single artwork!

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Page 26 belongs to Dean, aged 14. He is another boy that decided to try drawing a cat at our stand and the results are beyond fantastic. We need to encourage boys to create and draw more! Just look at his cat portrait – perfect proportions, a great abstract pose, unique style. This kitten needs a bit of color and it will fetch a nice price at the next arts and crafts market. Dean – your skills are brilliant. Please do not let anyone discourage you from practicing. Keep on doing what you love and in one time you will be a professional artist. Please, come to Ta’ Qali next year and bring your portfolio with you. We will see if we can help you set up your own stand!

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Do you ever wonder how the artistic world will look like in the future? We do it constantly and that’s why we are looking for talented individuals. Darryl, a five year old visitor featured on page 27 could be the next big thing. He is incredibly passionate about drawing and didn’t need any encouragement to grab a pen! He got so excited while creating that he draw not one but three pictures! He was also the only artist to run out of space on a single page and he claimed another for his art. Way to go, Darryl! Art needs space and every obstacle can be resolved. We will be watching your progress!

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A lovely artist named Rachel is gracing page number 28. She drew us a smiling ginger cat and called him Ginger. Or Grumpy. Or any other name will do as well! It doesn’t really matter how you are addressing the cat, if it wants to acknowledge you, it will. If not, there is absolutely no use in calling the kitten, you will be utterly ignored! Rachel had a lot of fun creating her fluffy friend (just look at the cat’s tail – it must be half Persian!) and left a playful message to other artists. It reads: “Meow! My name is Ginger…. Grumpy…. The multi-names cat….you name him! She also signed her artwork with a cat paw print. Very cute 😀

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An amazing artist known to us only as Sara P. pictured every cat owner’s biggest nightmare: scratching! Forget about the scratching posts, your feline knows better. That expensive wardrobe, an antique bed, posh armchair or your new beautiful leather sofa – they are there for your kitten’s comfort and convenience. And once the item is (nearly) destroyed, the cat proudly announces the triumph with a loud, high-pitched MEOW. It usually means “come and admire my masterpiece”. Sara – it was a pleasure to talk to you. Please come back again next year!

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Page 30 and our first manga inspired cat artwork! A lovely artist nicknamed Kittimi stopped by and expressed a desire to draw as well. Equipped with a pen she quickly came up with a superb manga sketch of a cat girl. When we asked her about her preferred style, she admitted that she has been creating comics for a longer period of time and that she soon might be looking for a place to exhibit her works. Comicon Malta crew, your immediate attention is then required. We are not sure if the sketch is a self portrait or maybe just a drawing of Kittimi’s original chara, but the girls have great skills.

The artwork is signed with a huge heart and writing “Kittimi was here”.

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The next artwork has absolutely nothing to do with Earth Garden or our cat shop but is cool enough to be included. Sometimes visitors are leaving us some cryptic messages, mumblings and rumblings without any sense or coherence. The artwork drawn by Darryl (yes, the same one mentioned on page 27) shows a collection of geometric (mathematical) shapes both in 2D (plain) and 3D. The figures include cylinders, squares, triangles, ellipses, circles and cones. There is also a row of numbers at the bottom of the drawing that reads: “1 123”. If anybody knows what that means, please contact us at rdabrowicz@yahoo.com. Thank you.

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Hey artists! Please sign your works! It is a truly devastating feeling when you are trying to compliment somebody’s work and you don’t even know their names! Page thirty two belongs to a big, pink cat with a long flowing tail drawn by very talented but anonymous artist. And we cannot even remember his or her face! So many people signed the guestbook, hundreds more came to the stall – it is simply impossible to remember all of them. Please take a look and admire – the force of art is strong with this contributor!

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Maltese artist named Julian Spiteri was more than happy to share his imagination with us and contributed a small round kitten with short front paws, large eyes and cute expression. His artwork displayed on page 33 is a great proof that you don’t have to have an amazing painting techniques or advanced skills to be able to draw! A bit of sense of humor, open mind and willingness to have a good time – that’s all it takes. And the results are very good. You never know, maybe signing a guest book could be a start of an artistic career or at least a beginning of rewarding hobby!

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Roberta Micallef is not only a gifted artist but also a very kind person as well. Her artwork (which she called a “hamster cat”) is dedicated to a rock legend – Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. Roberta arrived at our stall when we were packing with three of her friends. They were all sixteen and each wore a different band tee, Roberta rocking out in a Sonic Youth merch. At first she was afraid to draw something, but when we told her that “riot gurls” have no fear of art, she agreed and created one of the most amazing designs in the whole book. We have promised to send it to Kim herself. Roberta`s kitten seems to be a magical creature – it has a magic wand and a performing magician’s top hat on his head. The artwork is dated and signed. It says: “Hi! Kim xxx This cat is for you. 06/06/14”.

Wait a minute! Cats cannot wear hats and do not carry wands! This is not a cat portrait; this is a drawing of an animagus in a cat form! There must be a Hogwarts-like school in Malta as well!

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Time flies when you are having fun. It feels like we have just barely started and suddenly we find ourselves on the last page! The last artwork in our guest book has been made by 11 year old Sebastian Camilleri and his 10 year old partner in art, Zane Calleja. This unstoppable duo have prepared themselves well for the task: they cleaned the table, put the drawing materials in front of them, sat comfortably and went wild! Their cat is green-pink-orange-blue and black, has a fluffy tail and is named Whiskers. The cat is real and lives with the kids in their apartment. A house without a cat is not a home!

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And that’s all dear readers! The guestbook for Cat Store is done, photographed, described and available online. We are still trying to edit pictures from the Earth Garden Festival and soon you can expect a full blown review of the 3 day event.

For now, thank you for your attention, enjoy the art and if you’d like to visit us again, come to Ta’ Qali National Park next year. Earth Garden 2015 and we shall be there again!